"Residents, please stay in your homes. We are all under attack. This is not a test." An officer said through the speaker of her ZPD cruiser. Police and other military vehicles littered the street where the terrorists plan to attack. Small vehicles hid in some civilian garages while larger vehicles hid in the alley ways, waiting for the signal of the sniper on top of a house roof. Other officers who weren't in cars, hid behind the houses, guns at the ready. It was only a matter of time before a heard of black vans come by.
Michael knew from the start. He knew they would attack this street. The way some vehicles just parked, waited, and left. How some mysterious men dressed in black walked down alleyways and sidewalks at night. Even Sierra knew about it and informed Michael. Michael was the only one she trusts. Chloe was a part of this too. She was too stubborn to go inside. She wanted to fight, not only for Michael and the humans, for Zootopia. Like she always says, she's partners with Michael and partners stick together no matter what.
Sierra and her family heeded the warning of the police officer and took refuge in their basement. They found the most inner room down there and closed the door behind them. They were safe until the police sirens turned on. "Will we be safe?" Hunter asked his sister. Sierra looked worried but that was common anxiety. It's in every living things nature to be afraid. "I'm not quite sure." Sierra replied. Her parents and Grandfather didn't bat an eye because she was telling the truth.
The plan was simple. The snipers will keep watch as the other officers hid away. When one of them sees the terrorists, they will give a signal via radio to the rest of the officers. Once received, the hiding officers will rush out guns blazing. They will fire at anyone that exits those vehicles. To make sure no one escapes, the hidden large military vehicles will block the road way. They mainly consist of a couple cargo trucks and a tank (just in case). With Michael using the death ray he retrieved from the tripod, everything will work out fine.
Hopefully.
One of the snipers gave everyone the signal. The sound of vehicles were faintly heard and were gradually coming closer. Police cruisers drove out from the garages and stopped in the middle of the street as cover for officers on the ground. The Officers on the ground rushed behind the vehicles, behind trees, anywhere that provided cover from bullets. Military trucks turned on their engines, preparing to block the terrorists in. A screech was heard very close by. They have arrived.
There was about 10 vehicles. 4 of them were vans, the rest were armoured Sedans. The first driver who entered the street panicked and rushed towards the first car he saw. Michael and Chloe was four cars away from the first. Officers quickly dodged out of the way as the sedan smashed into the cruiser. Glass shattered and guns started firing. Officers who were still on the ground managed to scramble up and take out the driver. Then, the rest of the vehicles stopped at the intersection of the street. The military trucks saw their queue and blocked off all possible exits. The plan was coming along so far.
Multiple terrorists came out of the back of the vans and sedans. All were wielding AR-51's (Zootopian version of AR-15s) and began to shoot at the Officers taking cover. The fight was on. Michael and Chloe watched as Officers peaked out and ducked into cover as they exchanged fire with the terrorists. Why didn't Michael and Chloe join in? Well, Michael is the VIP in this situation. He is the only one close by who knows how to use the heat ray. If he dies and the terrorists are taking ground, people will die. Innocent lives will be lost.
It sounded like world war 2 out there. Guns firing, people yelling. Sierra and her family sat together and never spoke a word. She thought about what was going on. Who was winning? When will it end? What happens after this? The ground began to rumble and the sound of a slow but powerful engine began to grow louder. A voice screamed amongst the noise. Seconds later, the sound of electricity and screams of terror were heard. Hunter sat closer to Kate. Sierra huddled next to Larry and Sarmotti. 'That was probably Michael.' Sierra thought as she knew that her civilization couldn't have made that electricity.
Something wasn't right. Michael heard the sound of an engine and felt the ground weakly rumble. He shifted his focus to the intersection where the terrorists arrived. A slow moving tank emerged from the right, running into one of the military trucks, and turned left onto the street. "A fucking tank!?" Michael yelled in surprise. An officers close to Michael's neighbours house yelled "TANK!" As he took cover behind a house. Chloe backed away with tense shoulders. The military tank on the Officers side drove towards the terrorists tank from behind the Officers. Officers ran out of the way and his behind other cover.
Thank military tank stopped in front of the terrorist tank. The other terrorist still traded fire with officers. The T tank moved its barrel towards a house. They were gonna fire at a civilians house! Judy and Nick ran up to Michael frantically. "Michael!" Judy yelled, "They are going to fire at a house! Use the heat ray, quick!" And that was what Michael did. Michael nodded and ran out of cover and towards the T tank. Chloe wanted to stop him but reassured herself that he will be ok. He's endangering his life but it's ok. He can revive himself.
Life began to progress in slow motion. Bullets whizzed by Michael's head and some hit the ground. Officers, though focused on the terrorists, cheered on Michael. With the T tank in sight, Michael raised the heat ray with both his arms. The ray gun looked slim but still weighed a lot. Michael aimed the ray gun and pulled the trigger. Direct hit. The T tank didn't explode but the heat ray disabled its functions. It's scrap now.
Michael's vision went dark. He couldn't move his body, or feel it. It felt like he was just floating in a vast open space. He knew what happened. He died. But he knew he would be revived momentarily. As he waited, Michael swore he saw Sir Isaac Newton looking at him with a smug expression. "My first law," he began, "a body remains in a rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless and until an external force acts on it." Feeling dumb, Michael flipped him off before everything started to brighten up.
After the sound of electricity, the rumbling stopped. The gun fire stopped. The only thing Sierra and her family heard was the fan blowing cool air. They waited for the signal. Five gun shots. Nothing more, nothing less. And it happened. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Sierra helped her father and Sarmotti up on their feet. Hunter got up and hugged Sierra. Sierra didn't push him off. She embraced the hug. She sometimes disliked her brother but he will always be family and family matters.
It wasn't as bad outside as they have thought. Some cop cars were damaged and a couple bullets hit some houses but overall it wasn't bad. Police officers were celebrating. After a short but hard battle, the threat has been eliminated. Civilians exited their homes and cheered for the brave Officers. Sierra saw Cassidy and they both ran to each other. "I was so worried about you, girl." Cassidy said in tears. Sierra felt her relief and cracked a tear. "So was I." She said.
Michael breathed in and coughed. 'Dying sucks,' he thought as his glasses read "stabilizing" from where his notifications popped up. Chloe had his head in her lap and Paul was hovering above him with a holo screen projected in front of his screen. Revive complete the screen read. Officers clapped sighed in relief. "You got them all," Judy congratulated, "nice shot!" Michael looked up as the crowd began to walk off. He did get everyone. All the terrorists got blown to ash leaving only their black clothing. Michael laid back onto Chloe's lap. Chloe giggled, "good job, babe."
Michael caught something move from the T tank he shot at. It was the hatch. It jiggled as if someone was forcing it open. And it did. The top opened and a rhino slowly emerged from the tank. A red laser was pointing directly at Michael from the rhinos gun. The civilians started panicking, screaming to warn other of what was happening. Michael jolted up and alerted the officers who were still gathered around his body. Chloe also stood up and paralyzed in fear. The rhino saw Chloe and aimed it at her instead. A primal instinct flowed through Michael's body. It was fear. He ran in front of Chloe and felt a pinch in the centre of his forehead.
"Danger: Skull breach. Seek medical assistance immediately." His google glasses notified.
Michael lost all balance and struggled to keep himself up.
"Attention: Brain punctured."
Michael felt something warm and wet run down his head.
"Attention: Heart is receiving lessblood."
Michael felt a fuzzy hand grab his arm. It was Chloe's, he can tell.
"Vitals low."
Michael fell to his knees. He was losing his vision but could see the rhino was shot and killed.
"Initiating Revive Method..."
Paul appeared into Michael's vision just before Michael went blind.
"...attempt failed."
Michael couldn't see but he can hear the voices. Officers were trying to stop the bleeding but the damage was already done.
"..."
...
Her name was Chloe. She was just with her boyfriend, Michael. He was a hero. He stopped a group of terrorists from destroying the street she lived on but at a cost. Michael's kind knew about the terrorist event. They experienced it and lost many lives. She knew that Michael couldn't see another person die, so Michael stopped a bullet from killing her. Fighting for his life, Michael died a short few seconds. Chloe wanted to cry out but couldn't. It was like her body took away her voice and filled the void in fear. She was mute.
"WAIT!" Paul called out. The Officers who were kneeling next to Michaels body brought their attention to the robot. Chloe looked up, still crying. "I can revive him again but it won't bring back his physical self to life." A couple officers tilted their heads in confusion. "His soul," Paul explained, "his soul is still trapped in his body. That's how Revive Method works. Unfortunately we can't revive his body twice because he died twice. BUT I can extract his soul and put it in a new body." The Officers looked at each other and backed away. Chloe was mad about this but she understood. She wanted to sacrifice her body but didn't want to die.
"I will."
Everyone looked towards the sound of the voice. A snow leopard walked towards the crowd and looked at Paul. It was Mark, Michael's Officer and hired protector. "Mark?" Judy was surprised. Mark looked at Judy and nodded. "Mark, are you sure you want to do this?" Paul reassured Mark. "Yes." Mark responded. "Yes I do. It was my duty to protect Michael. When he got attacked and put in the hospital, I know that I failed. That's why I want to do this. Not only to become a hero, to owe Michael." One of the Officers teared up and blew his nose in a handkerchief.
Paul felt a wholesome feeling and approached Mark. A blade emerged from one of his instrument ports. Mark closed his eyes and prepared for a painful but honourable death. He felt a blade glide against his fur. "Done." Paul said. Mark opened his eyes and found part of his fur is shorter than the rest. "This clump of fur has enough DNA to create a full grown leopard similar to you, but similar to Michael." Paul explained. Mark was puzzled. "So you don't have to kill me?" Paul's screen lit up in yellow. "No no. I'm not a monster."
"This will only take a minute." Paul said as he turned around. A beam of blue light emitted from his light sources. Misty particles danced and spun like ballet. Slowly, a humanoid figure was forming before everyone's eyes. It started to take shape of a snow leopard. Only difference was its size and slight difference form Marks body. The forming body was smaller, similar to Michael's height and weight. Soon, the body was complete and the misty particles began to disappear. What's left was a motionless, soulless, body that would soon be Michael's.
"Looks like me." Mark chuckled in surprise. "That's the power of cloning." Paul replied. Paul hovered down to where Michael's dead body laid. He then attached several cords to his head and started up a process called "SoulHopping" where he will take Michael's soul and "hop" it to a different body. No particles or effects were shown. Just a cord that connected from Michael's body, to his new body. When the process was about to end, the feline body began to twitch and move slightly. "Fear not," Paul reassured, "this is just the process of testing if the body is capable of moving." The body stopped moving and laid dormant, yet again. Now it's time to wait.
"Warm. Comforting. Welcoming."
All was dark but somehow it wasn't.
"Time. Now time."
He started to make his way.
"See light. Free."
A light was seen at the end of the passage way.
"Light. Fading?"
Soon, his vision fell. He could no longer think. He can no longer hear. He can no longer see. What happened?
He was no longer a he or she. Just an it. An it lost in the dark corners of time.
"Wait..."
It started to think again. Visions flooded his mind. This man, he was on this space ship travelling the galaxy. He landed on an alien planet full of anthropomorphic animals. This man met a lovely wolf lady. What was her name? She was important in his visions. They worked on a project together. They hugged. They cried. She stayed with him in the hospital. Then this large three legged machine landed in a valley. Two to be exact. He got injured by one. Killed, perhaps? How was he still alive. A robot probe thingy sometimes floated beside the man. What was its purpose?
Then, the final vision. A bunch of men and women were fighting. Some wore these blue and navy clothes and some wore all black. They were all animals except for that same man and his important lady. A large machine entered the vision and the man shot the machine with a weird looking gun. He was forced backwards and hit his head on this smaller machine. He laid motionless. The black clothed animals laid motionless. The floating robot did something. The man got up. The man ran in front of the lady and-
That was it. That's the end. The visions it just witnessed stopped and he floated their in the dark corners of time. The it began to think again. The man. The wolf lady. The robot. The fighting. The spaceship. The galaxy. The word "mile" kept popping up in its thoughts. "Mile... Mile... Mike... Michael..." it stopped. Michael. That was a name. A name that sounded familiar. Felt personal to it. Then "clover" began to pop up. "Clover.. Clover... Chlorine... Chloe." This was also a name and it also sounded familiar. Then "Wall." "Wall... wall... Maul... Paul." Again, it sounded like a familiar name. The it thinker again. And again. And agin.
The neutrons connected.
Michael was the man.
Chloe was the wolf lady.
Paul was the robot.
Michael felt personal and had a strong connection to it.
Michael was him and he was Michael.
He. Was. MICHAEL.
Beams of light cracked through the dark void where it wasstaying. Soon his vision was blinded by the light. The thing didn't think and the thing didn't see.The thing was Michaeland that's all the info it needed.
Michael opened his eyes. He didn't jolt up for gasp for air. It was like he was at peace. He turned his head right to find his lifeless body on the neighbourhood street surrounded by coroners and paramedics. Some of the neighbourhood residents stood behind police tape with police officers periodically guarding it. He looked to his right and immediately saw Chloe full of tears. Paul hovered beside her, looking at Michael. "How do you feel, dude?" Paul asked. "Like I was being birthed." Michael groaned. "Excellent?" Paul responded with glee.
As Michael got up he found that his hands were covered with greyish white fur. He kept backward in panic and Chloe hustled over to calm him down. "I'm fine, babe," Michael said, "my concern is are you ok?" Chloe nodded and motioned a 'yep' with her mouth and wrapped him around her arms. Michael noticed that he can feel something moving just above his ass crack. It looked like a snake at first but it turned out to be a tail. "Paul... pass me a mirror." Michael said with a pale expression. Paul projected a mirror screen from his holo lights. Michael jolted back a pit. Chloe rubbed his back.
"I'm a leopard?!" Michael shouted in shock. "You died twice, Michael. I had no other choice." Paul responded. Michael sighed and rested his hand onto Chloe's hand. "You can talk, you know." Michael reminded Chloe. Chloe sighed and lightly gripped Michael's arm. "She's mute." A horse paramedic informed Michael. "Your second death must have really shook her up." Michael looked at Chloe. She was smiling but faintly. "When will she be able to speak?" The paramedic shrugged and looked at Michael. "Only time will tell." The paramedic wished the three well and went back to the ambulance. "Get up, kitty," Paul teased, "let's get you some clothes."
Sierra sat on her porch with Hunter. Hunter, as usual, played games on his phone while Sierra just leaned on the porch railing. It's been a day since the terrorist attack. Thank the stars the humans were here. If they didn't invent space travel, who else would prevent the tragedy from happening? She heard what happened to the human next door, Michael. He sacrificed his life for Chloe and with the help of cloning, got transferred to a new body. Sierra hopes he can cope with his new body.
Speaking of the devil, his girlfriends car pulled up into her driveway. Michael got out first, then his girlfriend, Chloe. The two of them hugged and kissed. Chloe then walked towards her place and so did Michael. Sierra waved at the two of them. Chloe waved happily and so did Michael. "How's the new body?" Sierra called out to Michael. "Still getting used to it but overall it's A-okay!" Michael responded with a thumbs up. Sierra chuckled and sat back in her seat. "Nice guy." Hunter said, face still into his screen. "He sure is." Sierra replied.
Sierra received a message from Cassidy. "Hey, wanna get some drinks at a local bar?" Cassidy texted. Sierra responded back. "Sure, I'm ready when you are." Life turned back to normal after the incident and Sierra hopes that it will remain this way. Nothing bad can happen after all that. Sierra was sure of it.
Right?